It is common practice to sell goods by a pallet. Bulky goods such as, but not limited to, bags/cases of pet food, charcoal, bags of sand, bags of soil, bags of gravel, bags of pesticides, bags of salt, bags of fertilizers, bags of grass seed, bags/containers of cat litter, large bags of staple goods (i.e., flour, rice, sugar, beans, dried milk, etc.), cases of canned/bottled goods, cases of beverages, etc. are commonly sold to consumers while such bulky goods remain on the pallet. This manner of selling goods to consumers commonly occurs at warehouse or discount stores (e.g., Costco, Walmart, Marcs, BJ's, Sam's Club, Kmart, Pet Smart, Petco, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, Mennards, etc.); however, other types of stores may also sell goods to consumers while the goods remain on a pallet. Commonly, these pallets of goods are placed on the floor of a store and consumers merely grab a bag/bottle/container of the goods from the pallet of goods. Some retailers attempt to hide the generally unsightly pallet by placing a frame or display about the pallet. These displays are generally 24-40 inches high and include three or four sides to encircle the pallet. As can be appreciated, the shape, number of sides, height, etc. of such displays are non-limiting. The display frame may also include advertising that provides information about the goods that are stacked on the pallet; however, this is not required. As the number of the bags of goods on the pallet decreases, the height of the stacked goods decreases until eventually the top layer of the bag/bottle/container, etc. of the goods is on the top surface of the pallet. For bulky and heavy goods, it is generally undesirable to have to reach down and lift a bag off of the pallet. Also, when the top bag/bottle/container of the goods is located below the top edge of the display frame, the bag/bottle/container of the goods must be lifted over the edge of the display frame to remove the bag/bottle/container of the goods from the pallet of goods. Also, when the top bag/bottle/container of the goods is located below the top edge of the display frame, the display looks empty from a distance, thus may result in lost sales.
In an attempt to address the issue of having to lift the top bag/bottle/container of the goods over the edge of the display frame and/or the top bag/bottle/container of the goods being hidden by the top edge of the display frame, coiled spring pallet lifters have been developed. These coiled spring pallet lifters are designed to be in the fully raised/extended position when a certain low weight threshold exists on the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter. In practice, a pallet of goods is placed on the coiled spring pallet lifter, which results in the coiled spring(s) being compressed by the weight of the pallet. A separate truck or hydraulic pallet lifter is required to lift the pallet of goods onto the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter, which height of the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter is about 20-40 inches when the coiled spring pallet lifter is in the fully raised/extended position. As can be appreciated, the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter when in the fully raised/extended position can be less than or greater than 20-40 inches. Once the separate truck or hydraulic pallet lifter moves the pallet of goods over the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter, the pallet is then lowered onto the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter thereby causing the coiled spring(s) to be compressed by the weight of the pallet of goods. As the goods are removed from the pallet, the weight of the pallet of goods reduces until the weight is such that the coiled spring(s) of the coiled spring pallet lifter are able to counter the weight of the pallet of goods, thus lifting the pallet of goods. Although these coiled spring pallet lifters can be effective in raising pallets, such coiled spring pallet lifters are generally bulky, and require a truck or hydraulic pallet lifter to raise the pallet of goods onto the top surface of the coiled spring pallet lifter when the coiled spring pallet lifter is in the raised/extended position. Many retailers do not allow a truck or large hydraulic pallet lifter on the retail floor, thus allow only the hand-pulled pallet movers that only lift the pallet a few inches off of a floor surface. Such hand-pulled pallet movers do not and cannot raise a pallet high enough for loading the pallet of goods on a standard coiled spring pallet lifter when in the raised/extended position.
In view of the current state of the art of pallet risers for displaying goods to a consumer, there is a need for a pallet riser that can be easily loaded with a pallet of goods without the need of large pallet lifters and which can controllably lift and lower a pallet of goods at a designated and controllable height.